Word.ws English Dictionary

How to use instantaneous in a sentence

22 example sentences · adjective

Instantaneous means occurring, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time. Example: “It's the principle of the pneumatic instantaneous shutter for a camera lens.”

Examples of instantaneous by meaning

adjectiveOccurring, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time.

  • It's the principle of the pneumatic instantaneous shutter for a camera lens.1906 January–October, Joseph Conrad, chapter IV, in The Secret Agent: A Simple Tale (Collection of British Authors; 3995), copyright...
  • The penis is the perfectly obvious and natural symbol of instantaneous time.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London...
  • He said that the bullet went through her head, severed her spine and death would have been almost instantaneous.2007 May 30, “Spector jury given graphic account of actress ‘murder’”, in The Times, London, retrieved 13 Jul 2007

More sentences with instantaneous

  • After she hangs up, Ava feels dizzy with instantaneous regret and exhiliration.2021, Hala Alyan, “Park Slope Wives”, in The Arsonists’ City: A Novel, Boston, Mass.: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, →ISBN, part I, page 20. From the entry takesy-backsy
  • Exposure of aluminum to the air causes a near instantaneous oxide.2020, L. William Zahner, “Corrosion Characteristics”, in Aluminum Surfaces: a Guide to Alloys, Finishes, Fabrication and Maintenance in…. From the entry second
  • Indeed, SWIFT messages are literally lightning fast, travelling over wire at the speed of light, basically instantaneous.2020, Nikesh Lalchandani, Payments and Banking in Australia. From the entry apronym
  • The exchange of pesticide compounds between aqueous solution and the sorbed phase in soils is not instantaneous.2005, J. E. Barbash, “The Geochemistry of Pesticides”, in Barbara Sherwood Lollar, editor, Treatise on Geochemistry 9: Environmental…. From the entry sorb
  • In mines subject to instantaneous outbursts of gas, no electrical apparatus has been permitted.1929 May, L[ee] C[lyde] Ilsley, Safeguarding Electrical Equipment Used in Gassy Mines: European Practice: II – Belgium (Information…. From the entry gassy
  • Among fuzes, instantaneous, superinstantaneous, without delay, short delay, long delay, low velocity, reinforced spring time, anti-aircraft.1920, Antiaircraft Journal, Volume 53, United States Coast Artillery Association, page 11. From the entry superinstantaneous
  • It was pretty much instantaneous, and by the end of the day you would be rid of your moley problem.2019, Philip Dixon, French Cows and Four Kisses. From the entry moley
  • Instantaneous discharge from aquifer storage does not occur, but storativity does approach a constant value with increasing pumping time.2001, Michael Kasenow, Applied Ground-water Hydrology and Well Hydraulics, page 384. From the entry pumping time
  • Word lookup is not instantaneous, and as it proceeds a few irregular verbs in memory might crudely match a regular probe.1999, Steven Pinker, “Word Nerds”, in Words and Rules: The Ingredients of Language, paperback edition, New York, N.Y.: Basic Books…. From the entry jot and tittle
  • The chemical reaction range of hypergolic mixtures varies from slow and barely visible to an instantaneous and highly visible explosive force.1994, Stephen K. Hall, Chemical Safety in the Laboratory, CRC Press, page 65. From the entry hypergolic
  • Tonsteins, which are altered volcanic ash, mark instantaneous events over large areas and thus are excellent time markers for basin analysis.1990, W.F. Outerbridge, P.C. Lyons, D.M. Triplehorn, “New Tonstein Beds in the Middle Pennsylvanian of the Central Appalachian Basin-Time…. From the entry tonstein
  • Therefore its completeness, though instantaneous, was total.1987, “Sri Ramanasramam Charities”, in Mountain Path, volume 24, page 152. From the entry in a flash
  • A bleachman at the Guardbridge Paper Mills, Fife, was caught by a shaft and dashed against a platform, death being instantaneous.1904, Paper Markers Monthly Journal, volumes 42-43, page 430. From the entry bleachman
  • You can't judge facial expressions, body language and responses as accurately when they are not instantaneous, even if you don't consciously realise it.2020 May 6, Stefanie Foster, “Comment: One chance for a new order”, in Rail, page 3. From the entry video call
  • A legal determination of genericide is an instantaneous elimination of the associations between mark and product built up in the minds of consumers.2008, Graeme B. Dinwoodie, Mark D. Janis, editors, Trademark Law and Theory: A Handbook of Contemporary Research, Edward Elgar Publishing…. From the entry genericide
  • With a stargate, travel is instantaneous.2004, Stephanie Relfe, The Mars Force Book 2. From the entry stargate
  • The ithyphallic bird-man is the climactic, ecstatic, instantaneous male principle confronting the enormous, slow, bovine, and enduring principle of the eternal feminine in her epiphany as the bison.1981, William Irwin Thompson, The Time Falling Bodies Take to Light: Mythology, Sexuality and the Origins of Culture, London…. From the entry epiphany
  • The case standing hereabouts (as near as I could rough-draw the state of it in this instantaneous haste) let us I beseech you be rather Irenei than Cassandri.1968, John Cotton, Larzer Ziff, John Cotton on the Churches of New England, page 172. From the entry rough-draw
  • The flames that so frequently burst from a crashed airplane became an instantaneous cauldron; many a pilot has lived through the crash to die in the fire that followed.1930 December, Lawrence M. Guyer, “Chuck Luck: The Story of a Flying Dog”, in Boys' Life. From the entry crack up

Meaning of instantaneous

  1. adjective Occurring, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time.

Full definition of instantaneous

Questions about instantaneous in a sentence

How do you use instantaneous in a sentence?
Instantaneous is used as an adjective. For example: “It's the principle of the pneumatic instantaneous shutter for a camera lens.”
What is a short sentence with instantaneous?
“With a stargate, travel is instantaneous.”
What does instantaneous mean?
Instantaneous means occurring, arising, or functioning without any delay; happening within an imperceptibly brief period of time.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: instantaneous (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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